We tried to fill the new reserve water tank today. It filled well. But, a few minutes later the tank toppled over!
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foundation not level and/or firm enough |
Let’s start at the beginning…
One of the challenges of living in Panama is that services we take for granted in Europe and largely in the US too, are not available 24/7. The internet via fibreoptics is the exception - that’s super reliable! We had onle 2outages in more than 2 years. It is faster and better than the internet connection my family has in rural Austria!
Well, electricity and water are a totally different story!
The water association that supplies the hostal sends water only every morning from about 6 to about 10. If you want to have water during the other hours of the day, you need to have a reserve water tank. And, if that tank is not placed about 2 m (7 ft) above the highest shower head, you also need a pump.
We had 2 such tanks installed, with a combined volume of about 2,100 liters (600 gallons). And we had a pump installed as well.
During the high season we had at times 15+ guests staying with us, plus us two, and 2 workers. It turned out, the capacity of these tanks was not enough! Every evening the tanks were empty, and during the night there was no water for the toilets or the sinks.
So we replaced the 1100 liter tank with a 1700 liter one, and tried to find space for more tanks. Instead of only the swimming pool tank, we placed two more drinking water tanks next to the pool, and created an involved system of tubes from and to where the original water supply was connected to the system in the house.
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Tank farm - pool tank, plus two reserve water tanks |
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Reserve tanks on and under platform, pool tank to the left |
With that, I thought, we should be ready for the next main season…
It’s the low season right now, and we have only one guest. So the original 1000 liter tank was quite sufficient. But, yesterday, our neighbor told us, that power company cut the power supply to the association’s water turbine! Apparently, they didn’t pay the electricity bill for 3 months! Today would be the last time we would receive water, until that situation is cleared up!
So we got up early this morning and started filling all our reserve tanks. 5400 liters (1400 gallons)! That should keep us hydrated for a week or so. Hopefully they will have figured out a solution to get the water flowing again by then!
Well, once the first tank was filled, it toppled over!🤦♂️ 1,700 kg leaning against the washing machine and the drain pipe from the second floor! 😫
Luckily, the other big tank wasn’t full yet, so I was able to find a way to pump the water from the damaged tank into the other one. Phew! But 1700 liters less in reserve… 🤷♂️😩
Let’s see if the damaged tank is salvageable. First, i need to put a concrete slap, to ensure nothing is moving anymore, then try to straighten out the tank’s side, and probably also adjust the tubing as the level has changed…
There I was, thinking I would retire and have an easy life! 😝 Instead I ended up getting sucked into building two homes, and operating a hostal, plus helping run a restaurant! 🤦♂️🤪🤷♂️
Well, one day, maybe, retirement hits me too… 👍😊👍